Page:The statutes of Wales (1908).djvu/74

lxx course of the common laws of the Realm of England. Lands were to be sold and mortgaged also according to English law.

As we have already noticed, the privileges of the Lords Marchers had been preserved by the 30th section of the Act of 1535. By the 101st section of the Act of 1542 the liberties, franchises, and customs of the Lordships Marchers were to be maintained according to the Statute of 1535 in those Lordships which had come into the hands of King the Eighth after the suppression of the monasteries and by purchase or attainder. The private rights and private property of the Lords Marchers were not to be affected. In 1849, in the case of the Duke of Beaufort v. Smith (19 Law Journal Reports, Exch., p. 97), it was held that s. 101 of 34-35 8, c. 26, did not interfere with the private rights claimed by the Lords Marchers of  as lords of manors or owners of the land. This was a case where the Duke of Beaufort, as lord of the manor of Kilvey in the county of Glamorgan, claimed certain tolls. This manor is referred to in the Statute 27 8, c. 26, s. 14 (1535), and its liberties and customs were saved by the 30th section of the same Statute. The defendant relied on the 101st section of the Act of 1542, alleging that the tolls claimed in 1849, being levied irrespective of any tenure, were taken away by that section; but in giving the decision of the Court Baron Rolfe held that the section was only intended to destroy the rights and privileges of the Lords Marchers as quasi conquerors, and did not refer to their private rights.

By the 102nd section peaceable possession by any persons for the space of five years of any lands or tenements in was protected. The King's power is shown further in the 119th and 120th sections, which gave him power to make laws for and to alter those existing at his pleasure. Such alterations and laws were to be of the same strength and effect as if they were made directly by authority of Parliament.